The POSCO TJ Park Foundation was established to commemorate Mr. PARK Tae-Joon, the founder of POSCO, the biggest steel company in the world. The Prize is given to Asia-based individuals or organizations that have made exemplary achievements in the area of community development and philanthropy with the outstanding enhancement in the quality of human lives in communities. The prize award is 200 million won (about U$ 180,000).  

Ms. Hyekyung Kim, a official of the Citizen’s Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ), a Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP-SENCA) coalition in South Korea, was among those who nominated Mr. Horacio “Boy” Morales Jr., President of the La Liga Policy Institute, for the POSCO TJ PARK Prize in the area of Community Development and Philanthropy. In a communication sent to Mr. Morales, Ms. Kim says that the almost five decades of work done by Mr. Morales to promote the well being of the Filipino poor has earned him an esteemed place among notable Asian reformers  and development innovators.

For the last 4 decades. Boy Morales has been at the forefront of the development work, in the Philippines and in the international scene, steering both government and non-government organizations and coalitions towards effective courses of action.

As part of the Rafael Salas Team, he, together with Dr. OD Corpuz, developed, and were involved in the reform of the basic educational system, the rice self-sufficiency program and the reform of the government bureaucracy through provision of a clear administrative framework.

His strategic approach to development is characterized by developing innovative programs, field testing and full implementation of said programs. As an integral part of his strategy and methodology, these are eventually translated into building new institutions to oversee such programs.

As executive Director of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE), he initiated and established the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) System and the Private School Teachers Retirement Plan.

He was personally responsible for the establishment of the Electric Cooperatives Insurance Scheme as well as the establishment of the Federation of Electric Coops of the Phils.

As executive Vice-President of the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), he launched and organized the Task force on Human Settlements which eventually evolved into several institutions such as the Human Settlements Commission, Home Mortgage Financing Corporation, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC), etc. He also established the Barrio Irrigations Program which became the Farm Systems Development Corporation, the Medium and Small Industry Coordinated Action Program which became the Medium and Small Industry Bureau of the DTI, the Training of Foreign Service Executives which evolved into the Foreign Service Institute, the Countryside Development Program which evolved in to the Kilusang Kabuhayan at Kaunlaran.